In general, organizations, such as government agencies, financial institutions and professional companies, store and process their confidential information as documents which are stored in a digital format. Such confidential information may include product overviews, marketing plans, customer lists, and sales reports. In contrast to traditionally used print format, the digital format has improved the efficiency of handling the confidential information as well as maintaining its reliability. Organizations typically process the confidential information by sharing the confidential information in form of digital files through protected file servers, and distributing such digital files via downloads or email messages.
However, such digital files make the confidential information more vulnerable to unauthorized parties as the digital files are typically stored electronically on a central server within the organization, and external attackers or intruders may infiltrate into the organization through the organization's network to access such digital files. Further, apart from external attackers, people inside the organization, such as company employees having access to confidential information, may also disclose confidential information to non-trusted parties, either unintentionally or deliberately. Industry research indicates that leakage and theft of confidential information by internal attackers causes more damage to organizations all over the world than security breaches by external attackers.